I was interested, too, in the "Beatles Connection" - perhaps I could add my own "Beatles Disconnection"

You may recall that while we were still at school my preferred sport was cycling. In the early 1960s I was the General Secretary of the Liverpool St Christopher's Cycling Club. In those days each club used to promote a dance in the autumn, as a fund raiser, usually at the Grafton, Locarno or Rialto Ballroom. I guess it was October 1962 that we had hired the Locarno for our annual event and we had to provide the music. One of my best friends in the club volunteered that his cousin was in a group and perhaps they could play for us. After further enquiries he said the group wanted £50 to play for the evening and I said "No way, far too much!"

You can probably guess the rest - the cousin was George Harrison and by the night of our dance The Beatles were at Number 1 with "Love me Do".

We recovered our losses the next year when we were at the Locarno again and The Beatles were playing at the Grafton, next door, and our promotion was overwhelmed by their overflow.

I guess those events summed up my business acumen - it's just as well I spent most of my working life in the Civil Service!